Moorland vision (From The Northern Echo)

Moorland vision

12:21pm Thursday 24th April 2008 in Letters

THE Moorland Association applauds the North York Moors National Park Authority for adopting the vision of the Moorland Working Group comprising those at the sharp end of managing this wonderful landscape.

Heather moorland is rarer than rain forest on a global scale, with 75 per cent of the world's resource found in Britain.

It is a delicate balancing act successfully to encourage people to visit and enjoy this unique area with all its wonderful wildlife and plants, while allowing the land management that created and sustains it to continue unhindered: primarily management for red grouse shooting and sheep farming.

The more we understand an environment, the more we enjoy it and respect the need, for example, not to let dogs run free on moorland during the crucial bird and sheep breeding season of March 1 to July 31.

Simon Bostock, Chairman, Moorland Association, Pateley Bridge, North Yorkshire.